Ahh! Interior Lights Out After Clutch Repair, Guys at the shop claim to not know anything about electric... Options

[supaneko]

I took my car in and it seems like the gents blew some fuses. First, they claim that the speedo and tach wasn't working when I dropped the car off. Not true. They fix it saying that it was a blown fuse. I jump in the car (after the shop closes) only to discover that my radio isn't working. On closer look, most of the interior lights aren't working either. The gauges light up just fine, so does the clock, and my dome and door lights also work.

The lights for the odometer and trip gauge are out, the radio is out (as is my amp, though I suspect its because the amp lead isn't sending it's voltage), and I can't seem to figure out what fuse it is. Any ideas? Is there a fusible link somewhere that I am missing? I haven't pulled out every fuse just yet (weather has been horrible this weekend) but was hoping to get some insight before I do.

[808celica]

theres a 20amp fuse in the engine bay box, check that, you might have a hidden fuse also.

[supaneko]

Alright, I got in there and took a look at every fuse. They were all just fine... I was a little worried until I decided to take my head unit out. That fuse was blown, replaced it and gained all my missing features back (cig. lighter plug, odometer light, and most interior lights). My sub wasn't working and I went back and checked the amp only to discover that its 40 amp fuse was blown. Replaced that as well and now everything is A-OK.

I am a little concerned as to why this happened though. I took the car in for a clutch replacement and got it back with several blown fuses. Could it be because they didn't disconnect the battery or maybe they touched the leads together?

Either way, it's back in business and I'm happy.

[2bcelica]

thats why I hate having other people work on my car. I always seem to have more issues then what I brought it in for. Not that they don't know what their doing, but because of carelessness and not respecting other peoples property - they end up creating problems and maybe not knowing about it.

[supaneko]

UGH...tell me about it. That's why I try to baby my car and, whenever I can, do maintenance and repairs myself. Not being the most auto mechanical person I know (I can usually handle the electric just fine, just not the "intimidating stuff") means that I usually have to take my car in when a major repair is necessary. I searched and searched for about two months trying to get one of my mates to take care of it but they were just too unreliable.

I must say that despite this small issue, this repair was the most "successful" one I have ever had. The mechanics didn't seem to create any new, $100+ repairs or pull anything shady like disconnect my airbox sensor (had these guys do that when the car sprung a brake fluid leak). And when the issues popped up, the guy who worked on my car actually stayed late and gave me his cell phone number in case I couldn't handle the issue. Nice guy, and desptie this, I would take my car to him again if I needed another transmission-related fix.

[richee3]

I'm just a bit confused on how you say the gauge lights were working but the odometer light was out... It's the same bulb. Oh well, glad to hear you got everything fixed.

[6strngs]

probably tried to remove the starter before removing the battery and they shorted the positve wire to something and blew a bunch of fuses.